The present invention is in the field of metal finishing media and devices, and more particularly to media and devices for the deburring of metal surfaces.
The manufacture of smoothly-finished metal parts, especially those adapted to be mated with relatively soft materials (for example, metal hose connector blocks of the type used in the automotive industry) often requires final finishing or xe2x80x9cdeburringxe2x80x9d of critical areas. In the hose connector block example, the hose connector barb is typically formed with a recessed O-ring seat or groove which must be thoroughly deburred so as not to damage the important O-ring seal seated under the hose barb. Tiny burrs and metal shavings which remain clinging to the surface of the O-ring seat, which may have been acceptable under earlier standards, are often no longer acceptable under current quality standards and finishing guidelines. In these and other mass production metal finishing operations, it is frequently necessary for each part to be visually inspected and manually deburred using picks and brushes of known type.
While abrasive brushes and pads for the deburring and polishing of metal and hard plastic components are well known, none is particularly suitable for the final light deburring of small metal parts with recessed surfaces, particularly where the abrasive nature of the brushes, pads, etc. would damage critical tolerances achieved on adjacent surfaces in other finishing operations prior to final deburring. The automotive hose connector example given above is typical of metal parts which, although needing final deburring of certain surfaces, cannot be subjected to abrasive materials which would alter critical tolerances on or adjacent the surface being deburred. Prior art deburring and finishing devices using pad, brush, and other abrasive materials are typically designed for finishing large surface areas, employed as relatively wide belts, large disks, one-size-fits-all brush heads and other tools unsuitable for this type of light deburring.
In its broadest form, the present invention is a tool designed to finish a particularly-shaped surface on a metal part, the tool being surfaced with a layer of deburring material which, surprisingly, is non-abrasive. Even more surprisingly, that deburring material is the soft, fuzzy, xe2x80x9cfemalexe2x80x9d loop half of the hook-and-loop material commonly sold under brand names such as VELCRO(copyright), SCOTCHMATE(copyright), SMARTTOUCH(copyright), FASTOUCH(copyright), and others.
The soft, conforming, non-abrasive nature of the loop half of the hook and loop material (hereafter referred to as the xe2x80x9cloop deburring materialxe2x80x9d), and the adhesive-backed format in which it is perhaps most commonly found, allows it to be applied to the surfacing of a variety of relatively small, specially-configured tool surfaces designed to place the loop deburring material in conforming contact with the surface to be deburred. At the same time, in situations where the deburring tool is shaped for a small or recessed surface surrounded by other surfaces whose tolerances and finishes should not be altered, the non-abrasive nature of the loop deburring material will leave those other surfaces unaltered while performing the desired deburring operation on even small, hard-to-reach surfaces.
A common problem with abrasive deburring materials is that too much pressure is applied, resulting in damage to the surface being deburred. A tool surfaced with the non-abrasive loop deburring material tool according to the present invention is incapable of damaging the underlying surface. It simply removes small burrs and shavings which remain clinging to the underlying surface.
Although a deburring tool according to the invention can be configured in almost any shape, a preferred form of the invention has been developed for annular, recessed seats or grooves of the type used as O-ring seats in hose connector blocks. In this preferred form, the invention comprises a rigid tool or support having two edges defining a channel therebetween, the channel having a width approximating the diameter of the annular surface being deburred. Each side of the channel is surfaced with the non-abrasive loop deburring material having a depth and thickness designed to engage the entire surface area of the groove being deburred. The channel is open at least at one end, and preferably at both ends, to define a swipe-through deburring track through which the person performing the finishing operation can simply swipe the part with its annular groove seated in the track. A small amount of workpiece rotation on the way through the track serves to quickly and thoroughly deburr the entire seating surface.
In a further preferred form, the deburring faces on the channel-defining tool are adjustable to accommodate parts having different diameters. In one form the support comprises a pair of hinged halves which can be adjusted to vary the width of the channel which can then be secured in place to define a deburring channel of a width suitable for a particular part.